Root Canals (Endodontic Treatment)
Hillsboro, OR

Known in dentistry as endodontic therapy, a root canal is the process of removing infection from the inside of a tooth. This procedure is done in an effort to save a tooth from extraction. The inside portion of a tooth can become infected due to several varying causes, but somehow bacteria has located passage into the root of your tooth. This may be because of decay, a cavity that has extended into the root area, a previous large filling, a crack or fracture in the tooth, a traumatic jarring to the tooth, or from a tooth being worn down or fractured from bruxism. At Hillsboro Dental Center, we can help you keep your teeth, make them healthy and strengthen them.

Do I have to have a root canal?

When the inside portion of a tooth becomes infected you face one of two options, the first is a root canal therapy procedure, the second is extraction. The tooth pulp will not heal on its own, your body can not fight the infection. The infection will continue to rage, and can extend to neighboring teeth. This infection will work to kill the tooth, at which point extraction may be your only answer.

Is a root canal painful?

A common misconception is that root canals are painful. This is not entirely accurate. Our dentist, Dr. Roberts is able to assist our patients with medication for pain, we can anesthetize for pain. The pain that you perceive comes from the infected nerve itself. There is a nerve inside your tooth that reacts with pain due to the infection. When we open up this tooth, the pain may seem more severe, but it was pain that was already present.

How do you save the tooth?

In order to save your tooth, we need to remove the infection. This is done by removing everything inside of your tooth including the pulp, which is the living tissue inside the tooth, the nerves, and any bacteria or decay along with it. With the space inside your tooth now empty, one of our dentists, Dr. Roberts will then cleanse the space, and fill it with a medicated rubber material. At this point of the procedure, your tooth's strength has been compromised, so depending on the location of the tooth, we may recommend a dental crown.

Having a root canal procedure done on a tooth is the treatment of choice at Hillsboro Dental Center. Without it, the tooth would die and have to be extracted. Many patients have questioned if removing the tooth is a better or more cost effective solution, but in the long term, it is not. We always recommend that a patient do what they can to save the natural tooth structure of a tooth. Pulling a tooth would ultimately be more costly and a much larger problem in the long run. Once a tooth is removed, your body instantly reacts with bone loss, making a face appear older, sunken, and will wreck havoc on adjacent teeth.

Common reasons that infection reaches the pulp of your tooth include:

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If you are experiencing pain in a tooth, gums, or feel a bump in your gums, contact one of our dentist, John T. Roberts, DMD, PC at our Hillsboro, OR 97124 office. (503) 648-2829